Is your hair thinning? Are you going bald? If you could restore your hair to its natural, full, healthy look and length without super expensive transplant surgery, would you do it? Are you down with PRP? (Yeah, you know me – I couldn’t resist.)

Well, you are in luck. Now, there is a new, affordable, non-surgical procedure that does just that by using your own blood. The therapy is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP).

I was recently at a PRP training session on this new non-surgical hair restoration procedure and was blown away by this new therapy and its results. I was also informed by some of my practice patients of the social and emotional pain hair thinning and balding can cause some people. I was totally unaware of the emotional pain, loss of self-confidence and increased social awkwardness sometimes associated with thinning hair or a balding scalp in men and women. Many are suffering in silence. The stories that the practice patients shared with me really moved me to compassion and I was so happy to help them feel better by helping to restore their hair.

PRP (Platelet Rich Therapy) is now used in non-surgical hair restoration for natural looking results. The new hair growth usually takes 6 months. But, it takes 6 months even with surgical hair transplantation. PRP Hair Restoration is effective for both men and women. It works best in patients who have had balding hair loss for less than 5 years, but variable results have been seen in people who have been bald longer than 5 years. So, the sooner you address your thinning hair problem the better your results will be with PRP.

PRP is a non-surgical and totally natural medical procedure that is state-of-the-art treatment for hair loss or hair thinning. It is an injectable treatment into the scalp which uses the patient’s own blood so there is no allergic reaction.

First your blood is drawn from your vein with a thin needle and syringe and transferred into a laboratory test tube. That test tube of blood is then placed in a special centrifuge machine where it is “spun down” causing the red blood cells to separate from the plasma. The platelet rich plasma (PRP) is then aspirated from the test tube and mixed with Acell (a complex protein matrix) which increases the effectiveness of the PRP and improves the results.

After a topical anesthetic ointment is applied to the scalp to numb it, your own Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) is injected into the scalp with a very tiny needle using multiple injections. We then rub some of the PRP on the scalp and do “micro-needling” of the scalp to further stimulate the hair follicles. Then the growth factors, stem cells, and platelets in your blood plasma do their job and hair growth is naturally stimulated helping to restore one’s healthier looking head of hair, confidence and since of well-being. The whole procedure takes up to 2 hours.

My medical colleagues and I are taking the first steps to move this therapy beyond the joint and ligament repair world of the elite athlete. The hope is that the same technology that allowed elite athletes to get back on the field so quickly can now be used to treat many other conditions that tend to damper our joyous life experience.

Some Erectile Dysfunction in men can now be helped with penile rejuvenation; the “P-Shot” (Priapus Shot). Female Orgasmic Disorder, the decreased ability of women to enjoy sexual pleasure, now improves with vaginal rejuvenation – the “O-Shot”. Both the P-Shot and the O-Shot involve injecting PRP into the sides of the shaft of the penis and the sides of the clitoris. Of course this is done after thoroughly anesthetizing the penis and clitoris with a topical anesthetic. PRP has also been used successfully in the “Vampire Face Lift”, a non-surgical face lift made famous when Kim Kardashian had it on television. PRP has already been used for treatment of painful joints, ligaments and injuries in elite athletes and weekend warriors.

The cost of PRP treatment is affordable and ranges from $500 to $2,500 depending on the procedure and the area(s) treated. Rarely, more than one session is needed to obtain the desired result. The take home message is that PRP is an affordable, effective, non-surgical procedure that uses your own blood’s healing components with multiple injections. PRP for hair restoration is safe and yields extremely natural looking results in about 4 to 6 months